Chapter Fifteen

Marius met Dante at the trailer, watching Blaine walking around what was, he guessed, a front yard. They'd placed some fencing around a large swath in front of the trailer for the dogs to run.

"I need a favor."

"In other words, an order?"

"I'm not your boss, Marius. I'm more of a contemporary."

Marius resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "What's up, buddy?"

Dante chuckled and pointed to Blaine. "He's so good with them. If only our people were as loyal."

"They are, for a price or a threat. Dogs are just…loyal by nature."

"Well, speaking of threats, I have a job for you."

"Spill it."

Dante called him into the trailer, and they sat across from one another, Dante's eyes staring into his. "Your men, they know the ranch well, correct?"

"Correct. They've ridden a lot, and they know the terrain, the places that no one goes much. Why?"

"Not daily, as I realize every hand is necessary for the tremendous amount of work. Still, we need to watch, be vigilant."

Marius knew where it was going. "You want us on dead body watch."

"Exactly. Will you?"

"Riding out in the boonies with either of my guys? Yeah," he said, and his smile was so huge, he felt it cramping his cheeks.

"Your guys? It's that serious?"

"No! I mean, fuck, we just met. I'm not rushing it, but I'm not slowing it either. If that makes sense."

Dante smiled at him. "Perfect sense. I said the same about Blaine, and we've been together well over a decade now."

Marius pictured their previous night together. Ruben being tossed back and forth between them, sucking one, then the other, his cheeks puffed out from the big dicks that were slammed into his throat. He'd almost feel sorry for the guy, if he hadn't been hard as a rock the entire time.

"Where'd you go?"

Marius came out of his reverie, his face hot as burning coal. "Uh, I, nowhere."

"Yeah. Sure. Well, if the sex is that good, the rest will come much easier."

"Dante, fuck…"

"Regardless, will you do what I'm asking?"

"Of course, Dante! That's not a problem at all. Twice a week?"

"Yes, unless you can go more. If we have a body somewhere here, the animals would get to it far sooner than we could."

"I think they just took off. Just because they're married or have kids or whatever, that doesn't necessarily translate to happy."

"True, Marius, true. Still, indulge me."

Marius rose and Dante did as well, and Marius shook his hand. "I will get it set up today."

He left there after saying goodbye to Blaine and the dogs, each of them sniffing him a full minute before he could pet them. When he got to the ranch, he saw Dallas moving with purpose to the barn, and he caught him just before heading inside. "Hey!"

"Hey," Dallas said with a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"I can't come see you?"

Dallas looked around, then grabbed the front of Marius's shirt and pulled him close. "Last night was hot," he growled before kissing him. God, the man was sexy. "I want more like that."

"Me too, believe me. But, alas, this is business."

Dallas let go of him and asked, "Oh? What's up?"

"You and me, or me and Ruben, we need to go on searches of the property. Dante wants to check for those construction workers that have disappeared. I don't think it's anything hinky, but you never know."

"That's fine, but not every day."

"No, no, he knows that. Whatever days either of you can spare."

"Oh! Okay, well, I should be caught up today, so we could go tomorrow. Ruben a couple days after that. I'll make sure it's in his schedule."

"Perfect. And, while we're out, if we decide to…have a little break time in the bushes, that would be okay, right?"

Dallas kissed him again. "Yeah. I'd like that just fine."

The more he saw the big cowboy, the more he liked him. He was sexy, and smart. Good in his heart. And his body was to die for. The memory of him that morning, getting up and hurrying across the cold floor, his perfect ass, long, blond hairy legs… "See you tonight?"

"Yeah. I'm cooking. I got a grill from the shed that I'm gonna take up there. Nice steaks, a few beers, and then dessert is on Ruben."

"I love your mind." He nodded over to the left, where he saw Hunter and Burke. "We got company."

"Yeah, Hunter's going through our grain stores and Burke is checking security blind spots with Tango today. Tango's not far, I'm sure."

"Good thing. With people disappearing, sketchy or not, we need it."

Hunter and Burke, in turn, shook their hands, and Hunter sighed. "We've got a few more things to do before I head back home."

"Missin' your husband and kid?" Dallas asked. It raised the point Dante was making, about the men leaving theirs to run off, and the way Hunter looked, it made Marius reconsider his previous stance.

"You have no idea. I get videos all day. Zach stays at the clinic with Ethan most days and he's into it," Hunter boasted. "He's already a little vet."

"Proud papa," Dallas accused.

"So proud, I could bust open with it."

Marius wondered what that would feel like. Having a kid…it blew his mind. "We'll try to help you get out of here as soon as we can."

"I'd appreciate it."

Tango was indeed running to catch up to the two, a notebook open in his hand. "This place is a mess. I thought the resort would be hard to cover, but the ranch is worse."

"It's a ranch. The only things we're worried about losing are the cattle and horses," Dallas said to him. "Why have cameras and security where they ain't?"

"Well, now it will have cameras anyway, and we plan on more pole cameras for the places the cows will be. I've heard winters knock them out a lot, but in winter, hopefully, no one is running around rustling."

"Winters can be worse for that," Dallas explained. "People hunt around here for most of their meat. In winter, when game is scarce, they often hunt on the local ranches. That can happen any time of the year, but we've had quite a few in the winter. Mostly it's kill and go, where they kill the cow and butcher it, leaving the carcass. That's the only reason we know those are stolen. Otherwise, shit, they could be hauled off in trailers and we keep searching the property for them."

"When beef prices are high, you get more thieves, no matter the time of year," Hunter added. "But up here, I can see the winter being a problem."

"It is, but we have to watch all year. People are struggling with the prices of food. It's starve or chance getting a load of buckshot in the ass," Dallas said, smiling over to Marius. "But, then again, you don't have to be on a ranch for that."

"Shut up," Marius said, laughing.

"So, Dante said that before your friend Bobby left, they talked about buying and selling hay. How'd that go?" Dallas asked Hunter.

"I wish he could have stayed longer, but he's got a business to get back to, and a husband of his own. He's been driving his truck over three or four states for a while now, doing just that. Him and I took on that business years ago, and it's been going great. I think Dante made quite the deal with him, judging by his big ol' grin when he left. I didn't ask, though. Figured I'd meet up with him once I get back to Mesa Rojo. You should be fine if you're flush or not, on hay."

"Good. Let's go look at these grain stores."

Marius let them go while Tango and Burke headed off to the stables. He walked with them as he was curious about the security. "What are we doing for Dante and Blaine?"

Tango groaned, "God, don't remind me. They want a ten-acre compound. A compound! They are planning houses over the next five years for just about anyone associated with their people. We're looking at twenty homes at least, and a rec center that is private, just for them. The security for that will be a nightmare."

"I knew he was planning to make it big, even when he first just wanted a simple place for him and Blaine," he said, laughing.

Burke said, "It's doable, but I'm glad they don't want it all right away. Jace told me Roland works nearly around the clock on all the designs he's doing. Dante offered him an assistant, another architect, but he's mostly refused."

"He is letting Hunter design all the buildings for the ranch itself. The new barn, the vet clinic, all of it," Tango said. "And he hates that, but Jace and I talked him into it. He's determined to handle all of it. It's making us nuts."

"I get it. This plan…it's huge. I get they want it open for Pride. That would be an amazing opening weekend, but it's put a lot of pressure on a lot of people. I see stress on everyone's face."

Tango lifted his chin. "We can handle it. Stress or not."

"Sure, you've got a great way to relieve stress," Burke said. "Maybe Jace just needs to beat his ass now and then."

"He does, all the time," Tango admitted, blushing wildly.

"And yours," Burke said, pinching his cheek.

"Go fuck yourself, Burke," he whispered, laughing as he rubbed his cheek.

"If he needs help, just holler," Marius offered. "I can't do plans, but I'll bet Dallas can help with questions he might have and shit like that, and I can too, just not so much about ranch stuff."

"I'll let him know, thanks," Tango said sincerely, telling Marius that Roland was even more harried than he'd already said.

The work on the property was being rushed, he knew. Dante's visions never seemed to be able to wait until they came to fruition. Still, his wasn't the only excitement in the place to get it going. Everyone seemed to wait on this fine line, ready to bolt over it to have the place they were all dreaming of.

He was one of them. He wanted it to prosper, to get as popular as they all knew it could. Dallas being the manager, having additional responsibilities, sure it was making him a wreck, but now that he and Ruben had discovered how to take some of that from him, it was making it easier. He was much less tense than he had been.

He said goodbye to them and went back to find Dallas to make hard plans for their search mission. He found him alone in the barn, stacking bags of grain on a rolling cart. He started pitching in and asked, "Where are these going?"

"Donating them," Dallas said breathlessly. He was loading three bags at a time. It was no wonder he was in such good shape.

"Donating?"

"They're not organic. We can make a fortune if they don't eat this crap or get filled with drugs. Hunter does well."

"I've heard. Dante sings his praises."

After they loaded everything on the cart, he helped Dallas take them to the flatbed truck parked near the barn. "Want company?" He asked as he helped him load the bags on the flatbed.

"Help me with this until Ruben comes back in. He should be back soon. Wait for him and you two can have some time together before I get back. You and I will be out all day alone. I don't want him to feel left out."

Marius grabbed his hands and moved in to kiss him. "That's sweet. You really think about that stuff, huh?"

"Have to. Plan to make you both my boys," he said with a twinkle in his now-blue eyes.

As much as he had hated the thought of submission, with Dallas he found he liked it fine. "Aren't we already?"

They loaded more bags on the bed of the truck as Dallas explained, "We haven't talked about shit. I'm not a frequent guest of leather clubs, but I know enough about it to know we need conversations and safewords, lots of shit before it gets too serious. Until then, just bossing you both around and fucking you hard is fine for now."

It was no wonder the man was always stressed. He had a lot more on his mind than his new job. "I like that. I like that you want to do this right. He deserves it, even if I don't."

"You do too, Marius," he said roughly. "I want both of you to have everything you ever wanted or needed."

"Damn. I suddenly can't wait for tomorrow."

"Yeah, about that…you've never ridden a horse. How is it you plan to go with me?"

"Can't I ride with you?"

His body was just amazing as his sweat made his thin T-shirt cling to that chest and stomach, those fucking big biceps just stretching out the arms as he hefted two bags at once.

Dallas chuckled, "Yeah, sure, but eventually, you need your own horse on these excursions. I'm bringing two, and while we're searching, I think a few riding lessons will be in order."

His jaw popped as he looked over Marius's face, and it was so sexy, Marius wanted to tear his clothes off. Those eyes, his flaring nostrils, he was so animal, and yet under all that beauty was a heart that was big and ready to take care of two men.

He'd never thought in a million years he'd be so happy a man wanted to take care of him. Such was life. "I'll learn how to ride a horse, okay?"

"Good boy," he said with a wink.

"Don't push it."

"What? Don't enjoy being called boy?"

Marius snarled, "I'm all man, baby cakes. I'll show you one of these days."

Dallas smiled in a way that told Marius nothing soft and cuddly was moving through his mind. "We'll see how much you beg to be my boy when I get to finally tie you up in one of the empty stalls in the stables with a welt across your ass and a huge dildo stuck up inside you."

With his knees suddenly weak, he stared in awe at the man. Another never-thought moment. "Damn, you're kinky."

"I can be, yeah," he growled before moving to Marius and kissing him hard, holding him at the back of his neck. "See you tonight," he said before he walked off with the cart, but not before throwing a wink back at him.

"Yeah. See you tonight, Master."

A chuckle that lasted until he was out of sight, and then he was gone, leaving Marius to pant after him.

"Yeah, this is getting interesting."